Agonizing Demise
Instant
Kicker 
(You may pay an additional as you cast this spell.)
Destroy target nonblack creature. It can't be regenerated. If this spell was kicked, Agonizing Demise deals damage equal to that creature's power to the creature's controller.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BR
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Invasion
- Price
- $0.12
- EDHREC rank
- #23693
Agonizing Demise kills a nonblack creature and, at kicker, drains the controller for damage equal to its power — removal plus a life swing on one card. The floor is a four-mana sorcery-speed kill spell, which is mediocre, but the kicker ceiling against a large creature makes it worth considering in black decks that want incidental reach.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Agonizing Demise competes in a removal slot where instant-speed and unconditional options are plentiful, so it earns its place mainly when the drain rider is relevant — think life-total-matters or aristocrats builds that want every point of damage to count. Pauper is where it sees the most competitive consideration, since the card pool for black removal at common is narrower and the kicker drain can close games at that power level. Legacy and Vintage have access to far more efficient removal, so Agonizing Demise doesn't register in those formats despite being legal. Oathbreaker mirrors Commander's logic — playable in the right shell, ignorable otherwise.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.12 bulk tier
At $0.12, Agonizing Demise is pure bulk — the kind of card you pull from a common box rather than buy. That price is stable and likely to stay there; it's never been a competitive staple and the reprint risk on a card this cheap is irrelevant.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.